The final statistics belied what the scoreboard read at the end of Thursday’s night’s girls soccer game between Emporia High and Hayden.
Despite Hayden owning a decided statistical advantage in every category, it was EHS that came away with the 1-0 victory.
“Somehow, we snuck one out tonight,” EHS coach John Decker said. “It doesn’t look like we should have won, but we did.”
Hayden out-shot Emporia by a whopping 32-3 margin, with the Lady Wildcats recording 14 shots on goal compared to just two for the Lady Spartans. Hayden also had four corner kicks to none for EHS.
But a goal by sophomore Jordan Sosa in the 54th minute in which she ran up on a loose ball wide of the net and fired a shot past Hayden’s diving goalkeeper gave Emporia High all the scoring it would need. EHS improved to 8-5-1 on the season.
“We just played a tremendously great defensive game tonight,” Decker said. “We didn’t allow Hayden any quality shots. We didn’t get much offense either, but we got enough thanks to our defense.”
Emporia 1, Hayden 0
Thursday at Topeka
Emporia 0 1 — 1
Hayden 0 0 — 0
Second Half
Emp — Jordan Sosa (unassisted), 54th minute
Game Statistics
Shots on goal — Emporia 2, Hayden 14. Total shots — Emporia 3, Hayden 32. Saves — Emporia: Nuessen 14; Hayden 1. Corner kicks — Emporia 0, Hayden 4. Total fouls — Emporia 8, Hayden 7. Yellow cards — Emporia: Jessica Decker.